When satire beats scholarship
It took me forty pages of pretty dense prose to explain why China’s massive dollar holdings do not translate into increased foreign policy leverage. Over the weekend, Saturday Night Live’s cold open managed to summarize the subtleties of the Sino-American economic relationship in under seven minutes. Go ahead and watch it. I’ll wait. Note ...
It took me forty pages of pretty dense prose to explain why China's massive dollar holdings do not translate into increased foreign policy leverage.
It took me forty pages of pretty dense prose to explain why China’s massive dollar holdings do not translate into increased foreign policy leverage.
Over the weekend, Saturday Night Live’s cold open managed to summarize the subtleties of the Sino-American economic relationship in under seven minutes. Go ahead and watch it. I’ll wait.
Note that, although it appears that President Hu has the power because he is repeatedly berating Obama, the content of the skit suggests otherwise. Hu’s repeated complaints that the United States is, er, "doing sex" to him demonstrates the very limited leverage China has over U.S. policy.
My only complaint with the skit is that it fails to mention why China is buying up dollar-denominated assets in the first place.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
More from Foreign Policy

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?
The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World
It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.
Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing
The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.